“Broken doesn’t mean dead,” I said, holding on to hope, no matter how faint it might seem to be.
“Broken means it would be better if he were.” Old Rossi leaned back, the tension easing away just long enough for me to see he was tired. Very tired. Still, he made no move to leave the room.
“What is theRauðskinna?”
For a minute, well, more like three, I didn’t think he was going to answer me.
“It is a book. A book of dark magic.”
Dark magic. Just like Odin had said.
“Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“Why do I have a feeling it’s not the only dangerous thing you have hidden in town? No, don’t answer that. I can’t multi-task before coffee. Are you going to give it to him?”
Rossi didn’t say anything. I changed tactics. “What happens if he gets his hands on it?”
“All the bad things you can imagine and twice as many you can’t.”
“So we don’t give it to him.”
Silence again. I was surprised Myra and Jean weren’t in here by now, but we weren’t really talking all that loudly. I wondered if either of them had gotten any sleep last night.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“That, you do not need to know.”
“Like hell. He bit me.Bitme, Travail. I deserve to know which vampire permanently tagged me for his chew toy.”
Black and red eyes again. Fury, barely contained. “I will break that tie to you. Erase his mark. Make him suffer.”
“Tell me his name.”
“Lavius.”
Great. I’d been holding out hope he was dead, like Rossi had told me before. I didn’t want to have Rossi’s ex-brother-in-arms declaring war on my town by killing people I cared for, people I’d sworn to protect.
“You told me he was dead. You lied to me.”
“I had hoped. Foolishly hoped.”
“He has Ben.”
“Yes. But now we can find him.”
“How?”
“Through the mark he branded into you.”
I wasn’t sure what I thought about that. Good? Maybe I was glad something positive could come out of me getting fanged on the beach.
The door to my room opened, and Myra walked in. “No we will not use that mark, or Delaney to do anything,” she said. “You’re going to erase his tie to her. I’ve waited until she was awake. You’ve had your chance to talk to her. Break his claim on her. Now.”
Old Rossi’s body tightened. “We have no other way to find him. Or Ben.”
“We’ve only started looking,” she said.
